Coatesville station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

intercity rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

station located in

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...

. It is served by most Amtrak '' Keystone Service'' trains. The station has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s serving the outer tracks of the three-track

Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. This is the only electrified Amtrak line in the United States outside of the main line of the Northeast Corridor. The line r ...

History

Coatesville station opened in the 1830s on the

Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (P&CR) (1834) was one of the earliest commercial railroads in the United States, running from Philadelphia to Columbia, Pennsylvania, it was built by the Pennsylvania Canal Commission in lieu of a canal from Colu ...

, which later became part of the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The railroad built a two-story Italianate brick depot, now disused, in 1868.

took over Philadelphia–Harrisburg ''Silverliner Service'' (now '' Keystone Service'') from PRR successor

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

in 1972. The

SEPTA Regional Rail The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelp ...

Parkesburg Line served Coatesville from 1990 to 1996, when service was cut back to Downingtown during budget cuts. File:Coatesville station postcard.jpg, Circa-1920s postcard of Coatesville station, alt=A color postcard of a railway station next to a road File:Coatesville station, July 22, 1984.jpg, Coatesville station in 1984, alt=A two-story brick railway station, with the upper story at track level

Reconstruction

In summer 2013, the Chester County Economic Development Council announced the selection of a developer for a project to revitalize the Coatesville station area. Total costs will be dependent on final design and engineering estimates, but the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

(PennDOT) has pledged approximately $20 million to the project. Under the plan, a new station with parking would be built just east of the historic depot, along the tracks between Third and Fourth Avenues. SEPTA indicated in March 2019 that Regional Rail service would be extended from Thorndale to Coatesville "in the near future." The $21 million project was put out to bid in July 2021, with construction planned to last from late 2021 to 2025. A $1.65 million parking garage will also be built. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 22, 2021, with Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...

in attendance.

References

External links

*
PennDOT – Coatesville Station Project
Amtrak stations in Pennsylvania Railway stations in Chester County, Pennsylvania Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Coatesville, Pennsylvania Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Railway stations in the United States opened in 1868 {{PRR Main Line stations